All Rise...

The Charge

"Really? Worst film you ever saw? Well, my next one will be
better!"

Opening Statement

Edward D. Wood Jr. was a decorated Marine who served in World War II. His
career as a filmmaker was undistinguished at best, with a string of failures and
bombs that devolved from Z-grade to exploitation to hardcore porn. He was a
prolific pulp author, often writing on the themes of transvestism and the
occult. He died a penniless alcoholic.

Of course, you don't get any of that from Tim Burton's biopic of the
infamous director. What you get is a film that glosses over Wood's vices and
focuses on the director's relationship with fallen star Bela Lugosi and on the
filming of Wood's most famous films. Can your heart stand the shocking facts of
the true story of Ed Wood?

Facts of the Case

Ed Wood (Johnny Depp, Edward
Scissorhands) is a man with big dreams: He wants to direct films. Only
problem is, he's a man of little talent. He sees his chance to break into
showbiz when a low-rent studio is looking to produce a movie about Christine
Jorgensen, the first man to undergo a sex-change operation. Well, the rights to
make his…err…her story fall through, but that doesn't stop the
studio from wanting a flick to exploit the sexual-identity crisis angle, and Ed
has the "perfect" idea. His film, Glen or Glenda?, is a story of a man with an
angora fetish who is confused about his gender identity…oh, and it's
semi-autobiographical. Oh, and he talks his idol, washed-up (and drug-addicted)
Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau, North by Northwest) into
taking a rather…odd…role as the Puppetmaster.

Glen or Glenda? is an unqualified disaster in everyone's
eyes…except for Ed. Undaunted, he proceeds to raise funding himself for
his (and Bela's) next big project, Bride of the Atom (renamed Bride of
the Monster before it finally hits the screen). It's a troubled production,
at best, what with having to swipe props from other studios, film single takes
of inaction in pitch dark locations, and worry if the star will be lucid enough
to work.

Bride of the Monster gets made and is yet another unqualified
disaster. Undaunted, Ed proceeds to raise funding for his magnum opus, Plan 9 from Outer Space. However, there's one
critical blow to the effort to bring it to the screen: Bela dies of a heart
attack. That's not enough to stop Ed from giving him top billing, though, using
some framing footage of Bela with another actor whose face is covered filling in
for him during the actual production.

Plan 9 from Outer Space is an unqualified disaster…but that's
not going to stop Ed Wood!

The Evidence

Friends, there is only one way I can approach this film: as a fan of Tim
Burton. I have never seen an Ed Wood film, and quite frankly, unless someone
drives a dump truck full of money up to my door, I don't intend to. Unlike some
other members of the DVD Verdict staff, I'm not a lover of bad cinema, unless it
has the MST3K silhouettes over it. I am, however, a rabid fan of Mr. Tim
Burton. I founded what was (and still is, though I'm no longer involved) the
best and highest-trafficked fan site on the internet, The Tim Burton Collective.
I've penned all but one of DVD Verdict's reviews of his films. Heck, I even
checked out Cabin Boy because he produced
it. Wait, didn't I say I wasn't a lover of bad cinema? Hmm.

While it has a few elements unique in the Tim Burton canon (it's B&W,
the score's by Howard Shore instead of Danny Elfman, it's a biopic), Ed
Wood is classic Tim Burton all the way. Thematically, it shares a common
thread with all his films (except perhaps Planet of the Apes): You have the
Outsider who wishes to fit in with Others, but cannot give up What They Are to
do so. Consider:

• Pee-Wee's Big Adventure Outsider: Man-child Pee-Wee Others: Everyone he meets while searching
for his bicycle What They Are: Err, a man-child

• Edward
Scissorhands Outsider: Edward Others: The "normal"
suburban folks What They Are: A sweet, naïve child, even if he does
have scissors for hands.

• Mars Attacks! Outsider: The Martians Others: Puny earthlings What They Are:
Gleeful murdering freaks. Okay, maybe this one was a bad example.

In this case, the titular Ed Wood is our Outsider. Ed is set apart by two
defining characteristics. One, he likes to wear women's clothing. Angora
sweaters, specifically. Two, he wants to fit in with the filmmaking
establishment, but his (and here's the Defining Characteristic) complete lack of
artistic ability prevents him from being successful. The Others part of the
Burton equation is a bit nebulous in this film. In films like Batman (the entire city of Gotham) or
Edward Scissorhands (the shiny happy people), the Others are very clearly
defined and comprise the majority. In Ed Wood, there's a few people who
represent normality: a studio exec (played by "that guy" Stanley
DeSantis, I Am Sam) who rejects Glen or Glenda? as the worst film he ever saw,
and Dolores (Sarah Jessica Parker, Sex and the City), Ed's
short-suffering girlfriend who thinks he's a freak and surrounded himself with
weirdos. The weirdos run the show here, from the drug-addicted Bela to the
flamboyant Bunny Breckinridge (Bill Murray in one of his best supporting roles).
The Other is nebulous; it's the hundreds of patrons at Ed's premieres, throwing
popcorn and booing the stars out of the theater. It's the dentists and Baptists
he courts for funding, who are shocked by the content of his films (not to
mention the low production values). It's the bugaboo of studio
expectations—of money that's supposed to be made, of quality that's
supposed to be delivered, of content that's only supposed to titillate, not be
an exorcism of one's inner demons.

But beside the thematic similarities to all Tim Burton's projects, Ed
Wood fits stylistically into his oeuvre. Were you not to look at the
credits, you would swear the score was by Danny Elfman. Howard Shore creates a
score that's wonderfully evocative of the 1950s, part sci-fi drive-in, part tiki
lounge. The use of the theremin is eerily beautiful, or beautifully eerie,
depending on your point of view. It dovetails nicely with the soundscape created
by Elfman for films like Beetlejuice or Mars
Attacks! (which was little more than a big-budget Ed Wood picture). The
contrast of black and white has long been a visual theme in Burton's films. The
gothic, expressionistic look of films like Beetlejuice or The Nightmare Before Christmas is what
most people associate with Tim Burton, so that contrast applied to an entire
film serves the director's material nicely. It's not his first foray into
B&W, anyway—few people remember his short films prior to the release
of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Vincent
and Frankenweenie. Both were in
B&W. And while Ed Wood is a serious film at times, more so than most
of Burton's films, there is still the undercurrent of humor that asks us to
laugh at the absurdity of it all.

But wait, you say. Okay, so it's a Tim Burton film. It says that on the keep
case. But is it any good?

Yes, quite good, in fact. The black and white cinematography isn't just a
stylistic quirk. It is remarkably evocative; you could not tell the story of Ed
Wood in color. Johnny Depp, one of Burton's favorite actors (the two have worked
together five times now: Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, and the coming-in-2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
and The Corpse Bride) turns in the sort of performance you expect from
Depp. Like his performances in Donnie
Brasco or Blow, he becomes this
unique character, exuding exuberance from every pore and playing it completely
straight. There's no wink at the audience; Depp plays it like he's oblivious
that Wood is a freak. But what really makes the movie is the touching
performance of Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi, deservedly earning the Best
Supporting Actor Oscar for the role. Thanks to Rick Baker's makeup work (also
Oscar-winning), Landau becomes this famous actor. If you've seen him in
any of his famous roles—Dracula, most likely—it's
nearly impossible to tell that it's Landau in makeup, not Lugosi himself. He
nails the voice, the mannerisms, everything that made Lugosi an icon.

It may not have been as coveted on DVD as Star Wars, but Tim Burton
fans—and lovers of good cinema—have long waited for Ed Wood
on DVD. Wait no longer, because it's finally available, at least en masse. The
disc is nearly identical to the disc that was very nearly released back in
February 2004, making the delay all the more puzzling. (In fact, I'm reviewing
the February release, thanks to a Verdict reader who sent me a copy.) The film
is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 in an anamorphic transfer.
The picture is occasionally a little grainy, but I think that's by design, not a
transfer flaw, and there is occasionally some minor edge enhancement. There's
strong contrast and detail. Overall, it's a perfectly acceptable transfer. Audio
is Dolby Digital 5.1 in English. Unremarkable, though perfectly acceptable.

Touchstone has put together a pretty decent array of extras. The headlining
extra is a commentary track featuring Tim Burton, Martin Landau, writers Scott
Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, DP Stefan Czapsky, and costume designer Colleen
Atwood. The various contributors were recorded separately, except for Alexander
and Karaszewski, who were recorded together. Since there's so many people to
choose from to assemble the track, there's no dead gaps (except when the
dialogue is featured). Burton and Landau are given the most air time, and
everyone has something interesting to say. The 14-minute "Let's Shoot This
F#*%@r!" is a behind-the-scenes featurette. It's pretty much all on-set
footage—Burton directing, the actors acting, makeup artists applying
makeup. That sort of thing. "The Theremin" is a seven-minute look
at…get ready for this…the theremin. You get to see this interesting
"instrument" in action, as well as listen to Howard Shore explain its
history and why he chose to feature it in the score. "Making Bela" is
probably the most fascinating extra. It's an eight-minute look at how Martin
Landau and Rick Baker brought Bela Lugosi to life. There's interviews with the
two men, footage of the daily makeup applications, and best of all, footage of
the real Lugosi, including rare home movie footage. "Pie Plates Over
Hollywood" is 14 minutes with Tim Duffield, the production designer (he
also worked with Burton on Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands).
He goes into a lot of detail of how he designed the sets and the creative
challenges of working in B&W. Also great stuff. The theatrical trailer,
eight minutes of deleted scenes, and a music video round out the extras.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

I've already alluded that many consider this Tim Burton's best film. While I
can't deny its quality, personally it's near the bottom of my list of favorite
Burton films—just above Planet of the Apes (2004) and Batman (yup, don't care for the first one
all that much). Burton is a master visualist, and while Ed Wood is
masterfully visual, the story—often the weak link in any Burton
film—doesn't have legs to carry the visuals through to the end. 'Round
about the second time Ed and his motley band must raise money for Bride of
the Atom, my attention begins to waver. Bela's death nearly loses it
altogether—without the primary relationship of the film to provide focus,
the story becomes like a balloon when you let the air out, flying all over until
is sputters to death. Fortunately, it doesn't entirely sputter out; Plan
Nine is enough to keep you interested.

While Johnny Depp and Martin Landau are excellent in their portrayals of
these Hollywood icons (imagine me doing airquotes around "icons"), one
performance really sticks in my craw: Sarah Jessica Parker. She was definitely a
star on the rise in 1994, with a couple popular romantic comedies (L.A. Story and Honeymoon in Vegas), a kids'
movie (Hocus Pocus), and a big action movie (Striking Distance, and by
"big," I mean "big flop") to boost her stock. She's never
been a deep actress, and she's at her shallowest and most shrill as Dolores.
Every second she spends on screen is annoying, although it's great rehearsal for
her role in Mars Attacks!, where
she plays the same sort of character, but somehow there it's funny.

Closing Statement

Remember, my friends, future events such as these will affect you in the
future. So make your future interesting and pick up the Ed Wood DVD.